


This Cursed Reality

by WildflowerWoods



Series: Villain Black Bulls [2]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Black Bulls Squad as Antagonists, Black Bulls Squad as Villains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 17:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30143289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildflowerWoods/pseuds/WildflowerWoods
Summary: A few weeks after the realisation that some of the Black Bulls were less like monsters from legend than they first appeared to be, a new dungeon surfaced.The Golden Dawn was sent to investigate, and, while Yuno was used to working with Klaus and Mimosa, the addition of Langris and Alecdora was new.As a team, they set out to explore the dungeon and bring back it's treasure before anyone else could claim them.The Black Bulls got there first.
Relationships: Finral Roulacase & Langris Vaude, Magna Swing/Luck Voltia
Series: Villain Black Bulls [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217012
Comments: 19
Kudos: 51





	This Cursed Reality

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from To The Grave by Aviators

It was a standard day, all things considered. They had a mission to explore a new dungeon that had popped up. Normally, seeing as it was close to a noble estate, the dungeon would have been deemed a low priority and left for a while, but with both the Eye of the Midnight Sun and the Black Bulls on the rise, leaving it for them to gather items from wasn't an option.

His team was standard, him Klaus and Mimosa, the same as it had been since the day he joined the Golden Dawn.

Yuno looked up as the door to the courtyard opened, Langris and Alecdora approaching. Strange, neither of the older men could stand him on the best of days, and with the recent rise in Black Bull activity, not to mention the new threat of the Eye of the Midnight Sun tensions were high and even those who usually got along were arguing and snapping at each other.

"Vice-Captain Langris," Klaus said as he noticed the two men. "Alecdora. We were just about to set off for our-"

"We know." Langris cut Klaus off, as curt as ever. "we're coming with you."

"Pardon?"

"There's been a noticeable increase in Black Bull activity in the towns and estates around the dungeon you've been sent to explore, so Captain William is sending us out with you as well."

"Are they that much of a threat?" Mimosa asked, and she hadn't been with them when they'd run into Langris' brother on the rooftop. That she'd never actually run into a Black Bull before. Even from a distance, Yuno had been able to tell that Langris' brother was powerful.

"Yes." Klaus said, pushing his glasses up. "but- the only Black Bull we have been able to identify so far is a Spatial magic user." and Yuno noticed how Klaus avoided mentioning just who it was that they'd identified. "two Spatial magic spells cancel each other out. I can only assume that Captain Vangeance is hoping that we might be able to capture one, or more, of the Black Bulls.

"That is what he's hoping, yes." Langris agreed as they set off, Klaus, Mimosa and Alecdora in Klaus' chariot and Yuno and Langris ahead on brooms. Yuno frowned. There was something Langris wasn't telling them. Yuno wasn't stupid, there were pieces of the story of Finral Vaude that just weren't adding up, and, while he wasn't naive enough to think that figuring out the history of one of the Black Bulls would stop them all, knowing the story would undoubtedly help.

"Your brother has something to do with it too, doesn't he?" Yuno asked the moment they were out of earshot because Yuno strongly suspected that Langris would have come with them regardless of magic and rank, simply for a chance to see his brother again. Langris stiffened as Yuno spoke, his mana flaring slightly before he could wrestle it back under control. "why is nobody willing to talk about what happened to him?"

"Because nobody knows!" Langris snapped. "he left one day and never came home and I got told he was dead. End of story." and there was pain in his voice, old wounds that never fully healed torn open again with new hurt at the return of a ghost. As much as he and Langris had never got along, Yuno couldn't help but sympathise. Losing a brother was hard. He knew that first hand. He couldn't imagine how hard it would be to face a man that was so much like Asta, but at the same time wasn't him.

"Mine never came home either." he offered, because he'd forced Langris to share something he clearly hadn't wanted to, so the least Yuno could do was return the favour. Langris was staring at him, eyes wide in shock.

"You have a brother?" he asks, and his surprise is fair. Yuno never mentioned his home to the Golden Dawn if he could avoid it.

"Three, actually. And two sisters." Hollo, Aru, Nash, Recca and- "Asta- we came to the church on the same day. We did everything together." Asta had been his best friend, his brother, his rival. Everything that pushed him forwards, that inspired him, that drove him to do better day after day. "he used to go out alone to train. He'd vanish for hours every day. One day-" Yuno trailed off.

"He never came back." Langris finished. Yuno nodded.

"We searched. We searched and searched and searched, but we never found any trace of him. I haven't seen Asta since." Langris was quiet for a long moment, just staring at the horizon.

"Mother too him out." the Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn eventually said, his voice quiet "I remember thinking it was strange, because Mother had always hated Nii-San." Yuno couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. How could someone hate their own child? "or rather, she hated what he represented at least. Nii-San was a reminder that she was never Father's first choice. That even though she had been born Royal, I- her child- was worth less in his eyes than the son of someone who was little more than a commoner." Langris had yet to take his eyes away from the horizon, a far-off note to his voice, like he wasn't even aware he was speaking aloud. "Nii-San was a coward. He walked away from every fight. Backed down from every argument. He hated confrontation. She took him, and said he'd died, that he'd miscast a spell and got lost in his own magic, and I was stupid enough to believe her." and Yuno didn't have an answer for that. There wasn't really anything he _could_ say.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, Langris glaring at the horizon the entire way, but while their talk had clearly dredged up things Langris would much rather forget, Yuno felt lighter than he had in years. He'd never told anyone what happened to Asta, that he'd just vanished one day and never came home. In Hage, everyone had already known and outside, well, people had their own problems. Nobody was going to care about a kid they never met. But- even if their situations were different, Langris still knew what it meant to love a brother. Still understood what it felt like to lose one.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity, but at the same time was all too soon, the dungeon came into view. Yuno could tell at a glance that someone else had arrived before them. The ground was torn up, like there had been a fight, and the walls were littered with scorch marks. The door itself looked like it had been blown in, and there were footprints in the dust. One distinct set, and what could have been one set crossed over itself multiple times, or two sets one on top of the other. Yuno couldn't quite tell.

"So. We're not the first here then." Alecdora said as Klaus' chariot landed.

"Is it the Black Bulls, do you think?" Mimosa asked, sounding almost nervous as they ventured inside. The footprints quickly faded with the dust, but fresh burns still littered the walls.

"Maybe," Klaus said, "but it could just be ordinary bandits." Yuno had to admire Klaus' optimism, but he doubted that they would be that lucky.

The other group couldn't have been too far ahead of them, traces of mana still lingered in the air, fire and lightning clashing over and over as they ventured deeper into the dungeon. The traces of their battles littered on the walls and floor.

Every trap had already been activated, every enemy already defeated. Whoever had been through before them, they were thorough.

The door to the treasure room, much like the door to the dungeon, had already been blown wide open.

Yuno could hear faint voices from inside.

"We aren't alone." there was lightning in the air, far stronger than outside, and fire, though it was by far the weaker of the two, and under them both was something else Yuno couldn't name, slipping through his fingers like strands of silk every time he tried to grab it.

"Magna!" the voice came from the far end of the treasure room, and Yuno didn't bother to wait for his squadmates before heading towards the source of the noise. It was time to see exactly what they were dealing with.

"Luck, what the hell did you just put on me?" a second voice, presumably the 'Magna' that had been called for, practically demanded. The reply was too quiet for Yuno to hear. As he drew closer, Yuno could pick out three distinct mana signatures. A weak fire one, a strong lightning one, and a medium-strength one with an affinity he couldn't name.

"I think we've got all the magic items," the first voice said as Yuno grew closer. "we've got company too."

"And you didn't think to mention this before?" the voice Yuno had labelled as Magna asked "I _know_ you didn't just sense them."

Yuno rounded the corner and was faced, not with three bandits, but with three Black Bulls.

The one closest to him was a man with stupid looking purple sunglasses. His hair was strange too, either grey with black stripes or black with grey stripes, Yuno couldn't tell. There was a black choker around his neck and what looked like burn scars visible on the hand holding a book. His mana was fire natured and weak, definitely the weakest in the room.

The second person Yuno noticed was the real threat in the room. A blond man with a smile so wide it had to hurt and a matching black choker around his neck. In the seconds it had taken Yuno to analyse the first man, the blond had moved from the pile of treasure he'd been stood on, to the fire mage's side. His mana was strong, Yuno would have said it was around the same level as a high ranking noble and lightning natured. He and the fire-mage must have been the ones to do the damage to the rest of the dungeon.

The third and final Black Bull in the room was a woman with bright pink hair and a pink Witches hat. An outcast from the Forest of Witches then, and Yuno had to wonder if she'd been thrown out or if she'd run. There was a chest at her feet, a pile of books in her arms, and she was watching her two companions with a fond smile on her face. Her mana was a medium-strength, but Yuno still couldn't name its nature. She was the possessor of the affinity that lingered in the air and slipped through his fingers as soft as satin.

"Well, boys, it looks like we have company," the woman said, putting the books down on the chest.

"They seem strong," the blond said, clearly studying Yuno the same way he had been studying them. "hey, do you wanna fight>"

"Those robes-" the weakest of the Black Bulls said, completely unaffected by the lightning crackling around him and clinging to his clothes as well as the lightning mage's. "you're members of the Golden Dawn." he didn't sound scared or nervous, merely surprised. "Luck-" and if the fire mage was addressing the blond as Luck, then he was most likely Magna but that still left the woman's name unknown.

"You." Luck cut Magna off, staring straight at Langris. "you have Spatial magic." the other two Black Bulls both started smiling slightly at that statement.

"Spatial magic," Magna said. "that's rare. He looks a lot like-"

"You must be Little Langris!" the woman cried, cutting Magna off. Instantly, Langris was on guard, glaring at the Black Bulls

"Who told you you could call me that, Bull?" he demanded, his mana flaring. None of the Black Bulls reacted.

"Your brother, of course," the woman said, smiling at them like Langris was an idiot. "and my name's Vanessa, not Bull." Vanessa. That made four Black Bulls that they had names for.

"Still" Magna said, interrupting with a cocky grin "looks like you can't fight them, Luck. Finral would be mad if you killed his brother." Finral. Finral Vaude. Langris' older brother who had supposedly been dead for nearly a decade. The mage that had been on the roof, the first Black Bull they identified, the one that had warned them to be afraid of the dark.

Did the woman have Dark magic? No. Yuno had been around people with Light magic before, and while Dark magic and Light magic were theoretically opposites in every way, because Dark magic was still nothing more than a theoretical concept, Yuno doubted that Dark magic would feel like running his hand along velvet.

"But it's really fun fighting Finral when he's angry" Luck complained, turning his back on them and if Magic Knights weren't supposed to be honourable and they weren't in some sort of stalemate, Yuno had no doubt that one of his squad would have hit the lightning mage in the back.

"Not when he targets me he's not," the Fire mage said, and Yuno had to wonder if there was some sort of relationship between them, because targeting Magna when Luck was the one to annoy Langris' brother made no sense. Luck laughed, moving so he could throw an arm over Magna's shoulder, pulling the weaker mage in close.

"Aww, Magna, you know I'd protect you." Luck's tone was teasing and affectionate and, now that they were closer, Yuno could make out little silver charms hanging from their chokers. A flame for Luck and a lightning bolt for Magna. Definitely partners of some sort then.

"Isn't Noelle's cousin in that squad?" Vanessa asked, and Mimosa stiffened at the name. Noelle, that had to be Noelle Silva they were talking about, the youngest of the Silva line. The princess who's magic control was so poor it was basically nonexistent. She'd supposedly been kidnapped by the Black Bulls a few weeks before Finral had made himself known, but the way they talked about her didn't make her sound like a prisoner. "and Asta's little friend too." Yuno's blood went cold at the name. Asta. They knew Asta. _Asta_ was a Black Bull. "they'd be upset if you accidentally killed their loved ones."

"So?" Luck asked, and Yuno really didn't like the way he said that, like their deaths were of no consequence to him.

"You really think you can take all three of them on at once?" Magna asked, sounding incredulous, and Yuno had to wonder what he was so worried about. Asta had no magic, and Mimosa's cousin had no control. The only real threat in that group he could see was Langris' brother.

"Maybe not," Luck said, and just what had the Black Bulls done to his brother for Asta to be a threat? "but it'd be fun to try."

"Yeah. Right up until Finral tries to kill _me_ because _you_ killed his little brother." Magna said "I kinda like being alive Luck!" and why were they talking like the death of Yuno and his squad was an inevitable? They were strong, strong enough to take down three mages, especially when only one of them appeared to pose any real threat. Though Vanessa's unknown affinity might prove to be troublesome.

"Little Langris can protect himself," and Langris bristled at the nickname once more "according to Finral at any rate. I'm sure Mimosa and Yuno can too, and that's even if they're here."

"Are- are they just ignoring us?" Klaus asked quietly.

"I think they are."

"You're the ones just stood there." Vanessa said, calmly looking through another pile of books. "what else do you expect us to do?"

"But- you're Black Bulls!"

"So?"

"You attack everyone you meet and destroy everything in your path without any rhyme or reason!" at that, Luck and Vanessa both burst out laughing. Magna, however, stared at them warily.

"Everyone has their reasons," he said "we're no different. Don't presume to know why we act the way we do without first knowing our reasons." for a moment, there was a flash of power, of fire burning brighter than the sun itself, but then it vanished.

"And what would those reasons be?" all three of the Black Bulls were quiet, Luck and Vanessa clearly watching Magna for an indication of what to do and how to react. Did that mean he was the leader? Or were they only watching him because he was the one to bring the topic up? Magna's answer, however, caught Yuno off guard.

"Ever heard of Rayaka?" he asked, and Yuno remembered Rayaka. Everyone in the Forsaken Realm knew about Rayaka. It had been a village, not too far from Hage. "of course not. You're a bunch of Nobles. Why would you?" Rayaka Village was the reason the Forsaken Realm on the whole hated the Noble Realm.

"Rayaka?" Mimos repeated, and Yuno knew he was the only person in the Golden Dawn to know about Rayaka.

About the village that had been razed to the ground with all of her people still inside. All because a Noble wanted to build a summer home there.

They'd searched for survivors for weeks afterwards, but the Noble had been thorough. There were none to be found, only ashes remained of Rayaka and her people, but apparently one had escaped the flames.

"You know what," Magna said, turning his back on the Golden Dawn "you two can sort this out." and Yuno couldn't blame him for reacting the way he did "I'm going to have one last look for anything we missed," he called, vanishing behind another treasure pile.

"Go after him." Langris ordered, and Alecdora nodded "they've taken enough from this dungeon already."

"What's Rayaka?" Mimosa asked again as Alecdora left. Luck and Vanessa both opened their mouths to answer, but Yuno beat them to it.

"It was a village, out on the edges of the Forsaken Realm. It's gone now."

"Oh." Mimosa was quiet, clearly starting to put the pieces together.

"Oh, you missed out the best bit, Yuno," Vanessa said "you are Yuno, right? Only someone from the Forsaken Realm would know about Rayaka."

"Tell them what happened to it." Luck said, "what they did to a peaceful village out of greed."

"I-" he never got a chance to answer

 _"Sand Restraining Magic: Sandbox!"_ the spell was followed by a shocked cry and lightning filled the air in a blinding flash of light. When Yuno could see again, Vanessa was the only one stood in front of them.

"You'd better go stop your guy before Luck kills him," she said calmly.

"You dare attack what's mine?!" Luck roared, hostile mana filling the air, and Yuno wasn't alone when he went sprinting towards the sound.

The sight they were greeted with when they finally rounded the piles of treasure was not a pretty one, but at least everyone was still alive. Alecdora was on his ass, blood streaming down one side of his face as he stared in horror at the Black Bull in front of him literally glowing with power. A cube of sand hovered above them both.

"Luck." Vanessa said, what looked like threads shooting forwards and wrapping around the furious Black Bull. "release Magna. Now. Or I'll let him loose." Luck was beyond words in his anger, the glow around him only getting brighter as he condensed his power but- the mana wasn't staying with him. Most of it was flooding towards the cube of sand. Was trying to break the spell with sheer force of mana?

Before any of them could move, there was a loud _crack_. Yuno looked up in time to see the sand turn to glass, shattering from the heat of the flames within. Yuno could have sworn that he saw white light as the previously trapped Black Bull fell to the floor, the choker around his neck glowing with power as the flames died. So, the choker was some sort of magic item. They both were, because that certainly wasn't Magna's mana in the choker. So two magic items that allowed their wearers to share power. That was the most logical answer, and it meant that the fire mage Yuno had initially dismissed as not a threat was actually a big one. Not good.

"Jeez, Luck, how much power do you _have_?" Magna asked, confirming Yuno's suspicions about magic items. The two Black Bulls _had_ found a way to share power between them. The Fire mage stood slowly, shaking off both sand and glass, glaring at Alecdora as he did so. "and you. What was that for? I didn't even _do_ anything!"

"We were here in peace." Vanessa said, her voice cold. "we meant no harm to you or yours, but you attacked one of ours out of nowhere. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't let him loose." at the other end of her threads, Luck was still straining to get at Alecdora. Unfortunately, Yuno suspected that pointing out what they'd said earlier about their allies being upset over the deaths of Yuno and his squad would not be helpful.

"Luck. Stand down." Magna said "this is my fight," a fireball came to life in his hand as he spoke. "not yours."

"Well, this is quite the sticky situation you've got yourselves into." a voice Yuno could have sworn he'd heard before said. The Black Bulls all relaxed slightly. Langris stiffened.

"Finral," Vanessa said as a portal opened up next to Luck, Langris' older brother stepping through looking almost exactly the same as he had that night on the roof. "about time you turned up."

"Sorry," Finral said, not sounding sorry at all. "I was- distracted." he rubbed the back of his head as he spoke, and Yuno could have sworn that he saw a bruise on his neck as the robe shifted. Vanessa laughed.

"I'm sure you were." she said, "did you at least grab the stuff we gathered?"

"Yep. It's all safely back at base." Finral said, and that meant that they'd failed in part of their mission "actually." he flicked his wrist, Luck and Magna both vanishing into portals that opened up underneath their feet. "much better." somehow the absence of the other two Black Bulls put Yuno on edge more than it relaxed him. There were less enemies, sure, but that didn't really mean anything. Luck may have had far more mana, and the ability to share it with Magna, but Yuno had no doubt that the smiling Spatial mage in front of them was far more dangerous.

"Finral Vaude." Klaus said

"Oh, it's been _years_ since anyone's called me that." Finral said, "hmm, no, I don't think I like it." behind him, Langris made a small, hurt, noise that was quickly muffled. "oh, hey, Little Langris."

"Your name is Finral Vaude, is it not?"

"Oh, it was, but Finral Vaude died. That's what they said, isn't it?" his tone was mocking on the surface, but Yuno could hear the anger and hatred bubbling underneath "the poor boy miscast a spell and got lost in his own magic. There wasn't even a body to bury."

"Oh, how tragic" Vanessa said, her hand on her chest and her voice just as mocking "the poor child. Almost as horrific as the girl locked in a birdcage by her own mother."

"Look on the bright side, at least she wasn't sold." they both started laughing, but it wasn't happy laughter.

It was the sort of laughter that can when everything bad that could possibly happen had happened and the only real option left to be seen was giving up.

It was the sort of laughter that came where it was the only thing stopping someone from bursting into tears.

It was the sort of laughter that came when sadness and anger and hatred were tiring.

The sort of laughter that came when there was nothing left to do but laugh.

"She- she _sold_ you?" Langris asked quietly.

"Like a piece of meat." he said, his smile fading "and do you know why? So that _I_ wouldn't corrupt _you_." the last word was snarled, and Langris took a step back at the vitriol. Vanessa put her hand on Finral's shoulder.

"And you call _us_ heartless monsters," she said. "I think we've given them enough to think about, don't you?"

"Right," Finral muttered, glaring at the ground. His hands were shaking. "let's- let's go home." Vanessa waved as the portal opened up

"See you, Golden Dawn." the portal shut and the Golden Dawn were left alone in the dungeon. The silence echoed until, eventually, Mimosa was the one to break it.

"Well, that could have gone better."


End file.
